Dispenser For Oral Care Composition

ABSTRACT

A dispenser having a nozzle, wherein the distal opening is larger than the proximate opening, has an improved user experience in dosing oral care compositions (such as toothpaste on a toothbrush).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a dispenser suitable for oral carecompositions such a toothpaste.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many commercial toothpaste packages have: a flexible tube body (tocontain the toothpaste before dispensing); and a functionally attacheddispenser having a cylindrical nozzle. The nozzle is in fluidcommunication with the contents of the tube body. When a user squeezesthe flexible tube body, a dose of toothpaste is extruded through thecylindrical nozzle of the dispenser and dispensed onto a tooth brushhead. The nozzle diameter/geometry is critical for defining a user'sexperience in dispensing a desired tooth paste volume out from thepackage. Based on unpublished consumer testing, dosage is an importantfactor for an overall tooth brushing experience. Too large a dosage maywaste toothpaste (making the user feel as value is being lost) as wellas may frustrate the user given the efforts associated with getting getrid of extra toothpaste (e.g., additional rinsing). On the other hand,if a dosage is too small, it may not provide enough cleaning benefit toteeth or freshening benefit to the oral cavity. Further complicatingmatters is the diversity of tooth brushes available to users. Fromexample, some classic manual toothbrush brushes may have relativelylarge heads while smaller heads may be associated with some powerbrushes and specialty tooth brushes (e.g., children or gum sensitivity).

Another challenge in dosing is the relatively viscous nature oftoothpaste. To this end, some consumers report that a relatively highviscous toothpaste connotes quality. However, with this viscosity, thereare challenges for some consumer segments (e.g., elderly) to exertenough pressure on classic packages of toothpaste to dose it with themost desired level of control and/or quantity. Thus, there is acontinuing need to provide a dispenser that can improve the dosingexperience using a single dispenser designs to serves the needs among amyriad of user segments, toothbrushes, and to do so with a relativelyviscous composition.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention attempts to address one or more of these needs byproviding a dispenser, suitable for dispensing oral care composition,with a nozzle having a broadening nozzle opening that generallyincreases the dosing amount (using the same force in an otherwiseclassic dispenser). One aspect of the present invention provides adispenser for an oral care product. The dispenser comprising a basewhich is functionally attachable to a container containing an oral carecomposition (e.g., flexible tube). The dispenser further comprises anozzle, which extends from the base. The dispenser has a proximalopening at the interface of the nozzle and the base and an opposingdistal opening. A longitudinal axis intersects a centroid of a crosssection of the proximal opening and a centroid of a cross section of thedistal opening. The distal opening has a cross-sectional area largerthan the cross-sectional area of the proximal opening. The nozzle iscapable of being in fluid communication with the functionally attachedcontainer containing the oral care composition. An example of such acontainer is a flexible tube. An example of an oral care composition isa paste, preferably a toothpaste.

One advantage of the dispenser is a dispensing a dose of oral carecomposition that is wider than some classic dispensed doses therebyincreasing the surface area to facilitate better dispersion or the oralcare composition when administered in an oral cavity. This isparticularly advantageous with relatively high viscous oral carecompositions, such as pastes, which may not disperse as readily ascomparatively less viscous compositions.

One advantage of the dispenser herein is to minimize changes to existingproducts to minimize costs and capital investment, yet improve the userexperience.

These and other aspects of the present invention will become moreapparent upon reading the following detailed description of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments set forth in the drawings are illustrative in nature andnot intended to limit the invention defined by the claims. The followingdetailed description of the illustrative embodiments can be understoodwhen read in conjunction with the following drawings, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front, cross section view, of a dispenser; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the dispenser of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Features and benefits of the various embodiments of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following description, whichincludes examples of specific embodiments intended to give a broadrepresentation of the invention. Various modifications will be apparentto those skilled in the art from this description and from practice ofthe invention. The scope of the present invention is not intended to belimited to the particular forms disclosed and the invention covers allmodifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spiritand scope of the invention as defined by the claims.

As used herein, the articles including “the”, “a” and “an” when used ina claim or in the specification, are understood to mean one or more ofwhat is claimed or described.

As used herein, the term “plurality” means more than one.

As used herein, the terms “comprise”, “comprising”, “include”,“including”, are meant to be non-limiting, i.e., other steps and otheringredients which do not affect the end of result can be added.Accordingly, the terms “consisting essentially of” and “consisting of”are embodied in the term “comprising”. As used herein, “consistingessentially of” means that the devices, apparatuses, methods,components, and/or compositions may include additional ingredients, butonly if the additional ingredients do not materially alter the basic andnovel characteristics of the claimed devices, apparatuses, methods,components, and/or compositions.

An “oral care composition” is means a composition, which in the ordinarycourse of usage, is not intentionally swallowed for purposes of systemicadministration of particular therapeutic agents but is rather retainedin the oral cavity for a time sufficient to contact dental surfaces(i.e., tooth) and/or oral tissues for treatment. The oral care productmay be in various compositional forms including toothpaste, dentifrice,tooth gel, subgingival gel, denture cleaning composition, dentureadhesive, or the like. A preferred oral care composition is a pastecomposition, preferably a toothpaste composition.

An “oral care product” means packaging containing one or more doses,preferably a plurality of doses, of oral care composition. A dispenseris part of the packaging that contains the oral care composition.

Referring to FIG. 1, a dispenser (1) for an oral care product isprovided. The dispenser (1) comprises a base (9). The base (9) isfunctionally attachable to a container containing an oral carecomposition (not shown). The container is preferably a tube, preferablya flexible tube, more preferably a flexible toothpaste tube that issqueezable by a user to extrude the contained oral care composition fromthe subject tube through the functionally attached dispenser (1). Thebase (9), for example, may have threading, preferably internal facingthreading (11), for functionally attaching the container (wherein thecontainer has complimentary threading, preferably complimentary outwardfacing threading (not shown)). The dispenser (1) further comprises anozzle (13). The nozzle (13) extends from the base (9 (along alongitudinal axis (15)). The nozzle (13) is in fluid communication withthe functionally attached container. The nozzle (13) extending from thebase (9), has a proximal opening (19) at the interface of the nozzle(13) and the base (9). A distal opening (17) opposes the proximalopening (19). The longitudinal axis (15) intersects a centroid of across section of the proximal opening (19) and a centroid of a crosssection of the distal opening (17). The longitudinal axis (15)orthogonally intersects these cross sections. The nozzle (13) has abroadening nozzle opening. That is, the distal opening (17) has across-sectional area larger than the cross-sectional area of theproximal opening (19). In one example, the cross-sectional area of thedistal opening (17) is 5% to 115% larger than the cross-sectional areaof the proximal opening (19), preferably 10 to 70%, more preferably 20to 46% larger.

Still referring to FIG. 1, the nozzle (13) further comprises a middleopening (21) in-between (relative to the longitudinal axis (15)) theproximal opening (19) and the distal opening (17). Preferably thelongitudinal axis (15) orthogonally intersects the cross section of themiddle opening (21), more preferably intersects the centroid of themiddle opening cross section. Preferably the middle opening (21)cross-sectional area is larger, preferably 3% to 55% larger, than thecross-sectional area of the proximal opening (19). The middle opening(21) cross-sectional area is smaller, preferably 3% to 30% smaller, thanthe cross-sectional of the distal opening (17). Preferably the shape ofthese cross sections (i.e., of the distal opening, middle opening,and/or proximate opening) are the same, more preferably are eachcircular. That is, the distal opening (17) has the same cross-sectionalshape as the proximal opening (19). Preferably the distal opening (17)and the proximal opening (19) cross sections each have a circular shape.More preferably the middle opening (21) also has a circularcross-sectional shape. The cross-sectional area of the distal opening(17), proximate opening (19), and the middle opening (21) is eachindependently from 15 mm² to 205 mm², preferably 30 mm² to 115 mm²(appreciating cross-sectional area of the middle opening is larger thanthat of the proximate opening, and the cross-sectional area of thedistal opening is larger than that of the middle opening).

Still referring to FIG. 1, the nozzle (13) has a height, measured alongthe longitudinal axis, from 3 mm to 20 mm, preferably from 4 mm to 12mm. The dispenser may comprise a cap (3) for releasably capping nozzle(13) closed. The is preferably hinged (5) (so as not to be lost ormisplaced). The nozzle (13) and base (9) (but without the cap (3)) has aheight, measured along the longitudinal axis (15), from 2 mm to 20 mm,preferably from 3 mm to 13 mm Lastly, a skirt (7) extendscircumferentially outward and around at least the base (9), preferablybelow the base (9) (to visually hide the attachment between the base andthe container (not shown).

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the dispenser of FIG. 1. The dispenser(1) comprises a nozzle (13) which the longitudinal axis (15) intersects.Starting at the outermost opening and descending deeper into the nozzle(13) along the longitudinal axis (15), the nozzle (13) has a distalopening (17) middle opening (21), and a proximate opening (19). A skirt(7) extends circumferentially outward and around at least the base (notshown in FIG. 2). A cap (3) is attached by way of a hinge (5). Thedispenser is made from plastic. Preferably the plastic is polypropylene.Preferably the dispenser is made by way of injection molding of saidplastic.

The dispenser described herein, is particularly useful for use with anoral care composition (especially a toothpaste) having a viscosity rangefrom 150,000 centipoise to 850,000 centipoise (“cP”). A method forassessing viscosity is described. The viscometer is Brookfield®viscometer, Model DV-I Prime with a Brookfield “Helipath” stand. Theviscometer is placed on the Helipath stand and leveled via spiritlevels. The E spindle is attached, and the viscometer is set to 2.5 RPM.Detach the spindle, zero the viscometer and install the E spindle. Then,lower the spindle until the crosspiece is partially submerged in thepaste before starting the measurement. Simultaneously turn on the powerswitch on the viscometer and the helipath to start rotation of thespindle downward. Set a timer for 48 seconds and turn the timer on atthe same time as the motor and helipath. Take a reading after the 48seconds. The reading is in cP.

The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood asbeing strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead,unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean boththe recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding thatvalue. For example, a dimension disclosed as “40 mm” is intended to mean“about 40 mm.”

Every document cited herein, including any cross referenced or relatedpatent or application and any patent application or patent to which thisapplication claims priority or benefit thereof, is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety unless expressly excluded orotherwise limited. The citation of any document is not an admission thatit is prior art with respect to any invention disclosed or claimedherein or that it alone, or in any combination with any other referenceor references, teaches, suggests or discloses any such invention.Further, to the extent that any meaning or definition of a term in thisdocument conflicts with any meaning or definition of the same term in adocument incorporated by reference, the meaning or definition assignedto that term in this document shall govern.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have beenillustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in theart that various other changes and modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is thereforeintended to cover in the appended claims all such changes andmodifications that are within the scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A dispenser (1) for an oral care product,comprising: a base (9) functionally attachable to a container containingan oral care composition (not shown); a nozzle (13) extending from thebase (9), having a proximal opening (19) at the interface of the nozzle(13) and the base (9), and an opposing distal opening (17); alongitudinal axis (15) intersecting a centroid of a cross section of theproximal opening (19) and a centroid of a cross section of the distalopening (17); wherein the distal opening (17) has a cross-sectional arealarger than the cross-sectional area of the proximal opening (19); andwherein the nozzle (13) is capable of being in fluid communication withthe functionally attached container containing the oral carecomposition.
 2. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the cross-sectionalarea of the distal opening (17) is 5% to 115% larger than thecross-sectional area of the proximal opening (19), preferably 10% to70%, more preferably 20% to 46% larger.
 3. The dispenser according toany of the preceding claims, wherein the nozzle (13) further comprisinga middle opening (21) in-between the proximal opening (19) and thedistal opening (17), wherein the middle opening (21) cross-sectionalarea: is larger, preferably 3% to 55% larger, than the cross-sectionalarea of the proximal opening (19); but is smaller, preferably 3% to 30%smaller, than the cross-sectional area of the distal opening (17). 4.The dispenser according to any of the preceding claims, wherein thedistal opening (17) has the same cross-sectional shape as the proximalopening (19); preferably the distal opening (17) and the proximalopening (19) each have a circular shape; more preferably a middleopening (21), in-between the proximal opening (19) and the distalopening (17), also has a circular cross-sectional shape.
 5. Thedispenser according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the nozzle(13) has a height measured along the longitudinal axis (15), from 3 mmto 20 mm, preferably from 4 mm to 12 mm.
 6. The dispenser according toany of the preceding claims, wherein the cross-sectional area of thedistal opening (17), proximate opening (19), and a middle opening (21)longitudinally midway in-between the distal opening (17) and proximateopening (19), is each independently from 15 mm² to 205 mm², preferablyfrom 30 mm² to 115 mm².
 7. The dispenser according to any of thepreceding claims, further comprising a cap (3) for releasably cappingthe nozzle (13) closed.
 8. The dispenser according to claim 7, whereinthe cap (3) is hinged (5).
 9. The dispenser according to any of thepreceding claims, wherein the nozzle (13) and base (9) have a height,measured along the longitudinal axis (15), from 2 mm to 20 mm,preferably from 3 mm to 13 mm.
 10. The dispenser according to any of thepreceding claims, wherein the base (9) comprises threading, preferablyinwardly facing threading (11).
 11. The dispenser according to any ofthe preceding claims, further comprising a skirt (7) extendingcircumferential outward and around at least the base (9).
 12. Thedispenser according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising acontainer containing an oral care composition functionally attached tothe base, preferably the oral care composition is a toothpaste pastecomposition; preferably the container and base (9) are functionallyattached to each other by threading.
 13. The dispenser of claim 12,wherein the paste composition comprises a viscosity from 150,000centipoise to 850,000 centipoise.
 14. The dispenser of claim 13, whereinthe container is a tube, preferably a flexible tube and wherein thepaste composition is toothpaste.
 15. The dispenser of according to anyof the preceding claims, made from plastic, preferably wherein theplastic is polypropylene, more preferably injection molding of saidplastic.